New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday granted protection from arrest to Amazon Prime India Head Archana Purohit in connection with the Tandav case.
A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Subhash Reddy expressed dissatisfaction about the new rules framed by the Union Government to regulate Over The Top (OTT) platforms like Netlifx, Prime Video, social media platforms and digital news portals, saying “These OTT Rules don't have any teeth; they're only just guidelines.”
The Top Court was referring to the new guidelines for social media and OTT platforms to ensure compliance with local laws, notified by the government last week.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by Purohit challenging the Allahabad High Court's February 25 order declining anticipatory bail to her in the criminal cases registered in connection with the web series “Tandav”, which allegedly hurt religious sentiments and showed objectionable content.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre submitted that the new rules were brought as a balance between “no-censorship and internal self-regulation”.
The SG assured that the government can come up with a new proposal within two weeks.
On Thursday, the apex court said some screening of OTT content is needed as in some cases, even pornography is being shown. (UNI)